ABSTRACT
The real gap in the work of the neo-Dadaist fringe groups was in any real attempt to explore the idea of 'chance'. But it was hard to reconcile the original, experimental, 'anything goes' role of the fringe with the social purposiveness. And this conflict, which rarely became an open battle, was also illustrated in the struggle for fringe grants from the Arts Council. If we wish, however, to indicate the general importance of the fringe to British theatre, we need perhaps only to consider statistics from one year and from one section of their work, the production of new plays in fringe theatres. If the leading West End examples turned out to be from Broadway and, disappointingly. Such works as Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar, there were several fringe multi-media companies which tried to extend the range of their work beyond the average hilarities of pop festivals.
